Fizer figures in road win

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

Tarun Fizer wasted no time in proving why he was named the Foothills CFR Chemicals Bisons player of the month for December.
In what was a rematch from a thrilling Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament quarterfinal, the Bisons dumped the Calgary Royals 5-1 in Alberta Midget Hockey League action Jan. 8 at Stu Peppard Arena.
Brandon Machado entered the offensive zone flanked with captain Brett Trentham on a two-on-one. Driving to the net, Machado deked, shot, and his rebound kicked out to the trailing Fizer, who chipped in the opening goal 2:10 into the game.
“Tarun is a super explosive guy and a very quick thinker,” said Bisons head coach Sandy Henry. “He tracks the play well, knows where the pucks are going to pop out and jumps on them. And on top of all that, he possesses a very solid shot.”
Always a fast-paced game when these two teams square off, the Bisons led 1-0 after the first and 18-8 in shots.
In the second, grinder Kaden Hanas won a battle in the Royals zone, walked out front and tried to jam the puck home. The rebound squirted to a pinching Landon Melzer, who stabbed at the puck, floating it over Samuel Burford.
Now healthy from a lower-body injury, the Bisons (19-3-3) are reaping the rewards of the clean-shaven Canmore product.
“It was very frustrating trying to come back from an injury like that,” said Melzer. “It would feel good one day, and then the next day I would take a misstep and tweak it again. It was hard to tell when it was good to go.”
In the second, Melzer stapled his man to the boards, turned around to retrieve the puck and was sent flying by one of the Royals (14-6-4) forwards.
“He came back to the bench after that hit and said, ‘Now I’m having fun!’ That’s just the type of kid he is: big, strong, moves the puck well and has more skill than you might think,” said Henry.
The Bisons opened up the game in the second when Cole Clayton wristed a high shot from the point. He collected his own rebound through a maze of legs and buried his third of the season.
Lost from the score sheet in the second was Fizer undressing Pickles to the backhand and roofing his would-be second goal of the game. Pickles bit so hard on the fake, he slid back into the net, dislodging it from its moorings milliseconds before Fizer fired the puck into the net. No goal.
“When you get a goal like that called back, you really want another one and kind of get that one back,” said the Victoria Cougars prospect Fizer.
Later in the third, he picked off a dee-to-dee pass from Sam Atkinson to Eric Gilholme deep in Royals territory. In alone, Fizer went back to the well and used the same move to render Pickles useless. This time, the net stayed on.
Joel Krahenbil put the game on ice when he shoveled in a rebound off a Clayton drive attempt.
The Bisons other netminder, Ben Laidlaw, has been between the pipes for the first two matchups with the Royals. This time, Hunter Young got his crack at the Royals.
Young was coming off his least impressive outing of the season, when he allowed four goals to the Moose Jaw Generals in a mean-nothing game in the Mac’s.
Refreshed from the post-Mac’s break, Young was razor sharp in the blue ice.
Early, he was quick on the recovery, adjusting to save deflected shots. In the third, his teammates took four penalties and the Royals sent waves of troops crashing towards the net. Twice on one penalty kill, Young emerged from a pile of bodies at the whistle, holding the puck.
“I was really helped out by my defence today; [Tyson] Terretta bailed me out and Cayde [Augustine] bailed me out,” said Young. “It was a little hectic in there at times, guys are going to try and get in your head, you just have to stay focused on the next play.”
Young now sits with a 7-2-1 record to go with a splendid 1.73 goals against average and a .938 save percentage.
“That was a huge game by Hunter,” said Henry. “I thought he really responded in a pressure game, little bit of tightness in the standings, playing in a road rink and coming off the holiday break.”
The Bisons are one of four teams without a shutout this season. The dream of picking up their first blank slate came to an end when Connor Minchin blasted home his second of the season off a faceoff win to the left of Young with 5:54 to go in the third.
“Honestly, I was pissed when that goal went in. I really wanted Hunter to get the shutout. I thought he deserved it,” said Henry.
The Bisons were without Blake Wells, Tyler Strath and Liam Belcourt. Strath came down with the flu and Wells is still recovering from an upper-body injury sustained in the Mac’s. Belcourt is playing with Tri-City Americans of the WHL during their Saskatchewan road swing. He will have played in six games by the time the trip wraps up on Jan. 14. Playing in place of the missing Bisons were Ryan Ries (Airdrie Lightning midget AA) and Travis Kelton (Wheatland Chiefs midget AA).
Next for the Bisons is a pair of home games. First, they welcome the Calgary Flames (15-8-1) Jan. 13 to the Strathmore Family Centre, with puck drop at 8 p.m. Two days later, on the 15th, the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs (14-4-7) stroll into town, with puck drop at 2 p.m.
The Bisons defeated the Flames 7-2 Oct. 30, and tied the Chiefs 2-2 Oct. 28 and clipped them 5-2 in the Mac’s.